


being scared is easier together

by thelotusflower



Category: I guess - Fandom, IT - Stephen King, South Park
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anxiety, Craig and Those Guys - Freeform, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gay Panic, IT: Chapter Two, Late Night Conversations, M/M, POV Craig Tucker, Sleepovers, Television Watching, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, aged 13/14, don't read if u dont wanna be spoiled, not sure if it's actually funny at all?, spoilers to IT CHAPTER TWO, this is serious really fluffy, yaoi shit never happened
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-09-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:35:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26271250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thelotusflower/pseuds/thelotusflower
Summary: Clyde puts on IT: Chapter Two and Craig comes to a realization about his feelings for the fidgeting, scared blonde next to him.
Relationships: Craig Tucker/Tweek Tweak, very minor: richie/eddie
Comments: 16
Kudos: 135





	being scared is easier together

**Author's Note:**

> do not read if u have not seen it:chapter two and u do not wanna be spoiled because there is a major spoiler
> 
> also, yaoi shit never happened in this ~~~ k bye

It is thirty-seven past midnight and Clyde wants to watch  _ It: Chapter Two. _

Everyone shrugs and nods in response, except Tweek, who is most certainly a _ gainst  _ it. “Gah! Clowns freak me out, man!” he shrieks, shaking his head, wide eyed and alert, grabbing onto Craig’s arm who sits beside him on the couch. “It’s ACK nighttime… Why do we have to watch this at  _ night?”  _ he chatters, his hold on Craig’s arm tightening.

Craig is not even sure Tweek  _ realizes  _ he is holding onto him. Tweek is just staring into the distance with a bugged out look, twitching and biting the nails on his other hand. 

“It’s okay, Tweek.” Token says, “It’s not real.”

“Yeah, uh, Tw - Tweek, it’s ju - ju - just pre - pre - pre - p - _ fiction,”  _ Jimmy interjects from the other side of the couch. It’s Tweek, Craig, and Jimmy on the couch. Clyde and Token are both on separate bean bag chairs on opposite ends of the couch.

Token has a 60’in television screen and HBO Max, along with the most comfy seats. __

“It’s not that scary, Tweek,” Craig interjects. Tweek looks over at him, and seems to finally realize he is holding onto him, and let's go with another shriek.

“GAH! _ Fine _ !” He moves over so he is completely on the edge of the couch, not touching Craig. He brings his feet onto the couch, hugging his knees to his chest. “You guys are assholes, though.”

Clyde plays the movie, a smirk on his face.

The movie starts.

Tweek is biting his nails, all the way to the bed and nothing has even  _ happened  _ yet. The sound is kind of  _ annoying. _

_ “Dude _ ,” Craig interjects in a whisper, looking at Tweek with a glare, pulling the hand from his mouth.

“GAH! I told you this was a bad idea.”

Craig lets go off his hand.

“Will you guys shut up?” Token looks up at them from his bean bag chair.

Craig closes his mouth. He looks at Tweek’s hand and it is shaking terribly. He lets out a huff of air and offers his hand to Tweek. Tweek glances down at it, hesitantly taking it.

Craig usually lets Tweek hold his hand during scary movies — or when they are in line for a rollercoaster ride, or  _ on  _ the rollercoaster — basically whenever Tweek feels  _ really  _ scared. Usually Craig will only do it where no one can see like in the dark right now.

Craig watches the screen. 

Two men appear, playing a carnival game. One guy wins, but ends up giving the little girl the prize instead. 

Then, the one guy is kissing the other, and Craig  _ gulps _ ; suddenly  _ very  _ aware of the feeling of Tweek’s soft, clammy hands against his. He loses his grip on him slightly.

Some bullies appear and harass the gay men; throwing them off the bridge and into the river, making Craig wince. When Pennywise appears, Tweek verbally screams and latches onto Craig completely — his arms looping around him, and head ducked into his shoulder.

Craig sighs, but he does not actually care. In fact, he kind of likes being there for Tweek — being a shoulder for him, helping him deal with his fears. Tweek peeks over his shoulder and stares at the screen, but his position is the same and he is still crammed against Craig. His body is heavy against him; warm and invading.

As the movie continues, during each  _ scary  _ scene, Tweek’s hold onto him intensifies and tightens. At one point, Craig winces because the hold is so tight — Tweek is pretty strong. He already knew that from the time they fought in third grade, but he does not protest or fight it because he knows Tweek is just  _ scared  _ and trying to find relief.

But it’s the scene with Richie — in the arcade playing a game with some kid, being called  _ faggot  _ — that makes his stomach churn and knot; filling with some kind of lead. He twists his hand slightly in Tweek’s hold, but remains interlocked with his fingers. That is, until Pennywise is mocking Richie on screen “I  _ know your secret, Richie,”  _ and Craig jerks his hand away and crosses his arms across his chest. Out of the corners of his eye, he sees Tweek looking up at him with wide, twisted eyebrow eyes, frowning and then returning his gaze back screen. For whatever reason,  _ this  _ scene falls heavy on him; nausea somewhat forming in his dense, full chest because of it — because of Pennywise’s taunts.

He doesn’t hold Tweek’s hand for the rest of the movie, instead keeping his arms crossed and hands dipped into his armpits. Tweek sometimes grabs onto him and shrieks — at one point, he sort of tugs at his forearm and Craig thinks maybe he wants to hold his hand, but he doesn’t budge. He feels sort of bad but he’s not  _ gay  _ and holding hands is kind of a  _ gay  _ thing to do. 

  
  


He tries to forget about the scene but it sticks to his thoughts like glue. He is unable to forget, almost as if Pennywise is taunting him too. 

He surprises himself when Eddie dies and tears run down his cheeks. He wipes his eyes, hoping no one sees him or hears his sniffle. Clyde is crying too and he is much louder, so he thinks he is safe — safe for everyone, but Tweek, who's next to him and staring.

“What?” He whispers to Tweek, glaring at him, still rubbing his pink and swollen eyes. “It’s fucking sad. Fuck off.”

Tweek jerks away and stares at the screen, his eye twitching.

At least only Tweek sees him cry.

The movie continues on without Eddie. 

Richie is shown carving “ _ R + E _ ” into the wooden bridge and it hits Craig like a ton of bricks — he is gay and was in love with his best friend. The scene makes him tear up again; a pit in his stomach forms and he feels the anxiety Tweek always goes on about crawling through all parts of his body.

The movie ends, the credits rolling in and his best friends start chattering about it — discussing the ending, and comparing the movie to the first one; complimenting the physical similarities between the child actors and the adult actors — discussing the scenes that freaked them out most.

Craig is quiet — not really listening, staring ahead. It’s when Clyde turns the lights back on and everyone is yawning, proclaiming its time for bed, rising up to walk to their sleeping bags when Tweek notices.

“ACK! Craig are you okay?”

He looks over to him, and gulps. Tweek’s cocoa eyes are wide and frantic; searching him frantically for the answer.

Craig just nods, “yeah. Yeah I’m fine.”

He is not though — he feels heavy, he feels like the world is caving in on him; an avalanche of emotions crushing his insides. It’s overwhelming and he just wants it to stop … go away.

He gets up and goes to his sleeping bag, ready to sleep and forget about this feeling … let it fade with his dreams.

Tweek lays in his own sleeping bag beside him, curling up on his side, facing Craig. Craig cannot look at him — he turns on his other side, luckily just facing the wall.

Someone turns off the lights, and after a few more laughs, whispers, shuffling and sliding, all is quiet. Craig is just left with his thoughts.

He closes his eyes but he cannot sleep — he cannot let the thoughts go, can’t stop thinking about Richie and Eddie. He does not want to be thinking about this, doesn’t want to find any relation to the situation but does and it is so fucking scary. 

And it’s Tweek, right next to him, that his thoughts gravitate to — Tweek, who drinks coffee at 11pm and complains of not sleeping. Tweek who screeches and squeaks, constantly weighed and burdened by massive paranoia. Tweek, who shakes and twitches constantly; never still, never calm. Tweek, who makes him laugh, whose witty and funny; more sarcastic than most people think. Tweek, who is strong and brave — playing piano in front of their whole school during the talent show, and acting in the school plays. Tweek, whose smile sometimes makes his knees feel weak and stomach woozy. Tweek, whose laugh is rare, but vibrant and full; buzzing through the whole room and spreading its warmth. Tweek, the most empathetic and compassionate person he knows; a moral compass, and way better person than he is. Tweek, his best fucking friend, and maybe something more.

He turns on his other side to face Tweek, whose laying on his back now. In the dark, he can see Tweek’s eyes are still wide open at the ceiling, the blanket pulled up all the way to his chin, his knuckles bright white from holding onto it so tightly. Everyone else has been out for hours now and Craig is not surprised Tweek is awake because he never sleeps, but feels weird that he was laying there next to him, wide awake, while all those thoughts rang through his head.

“I can’t sleep,” Craig whispers.

Tweek fidgets, his body jerking slightly. “Me neither!” He shrieks in a whisper. “GAH! That movie was scary, man. Nnngh, I don’t think I will ever be able to sleep again! I can’t stop thinking about it.”

Craig eyes him and sighs slightly. “Me neither.”

Tweek turns his head over to him, surprised and his eyebrows arching up. “You are scared too?” He asks.

Craig just nods, the heaviness in his chest forming again. God, he has never been this scared before in his life.

“ACK! I feel like you’re never scared of anything.”

“I am of this.”

Tweek makes a small noise and then turns onto his side so he is facing Craig. He still has the blanket pulled up to his chin, his knuckles white. 

Craig gulps.

Tweek is so pretty. Prettier and cuter than any girl — any person he has ever met. His cheeks are wide and his chocolate eyes big and hair wild. He always thought he was cute — cute like his guinea pig or other small animal. He never thought it was weird to think like that until now — until he is staring at him now and realizing that he could stare all day.

“AUGH I knew we shouldn’t have watched it! Why do I go along with this shit, man,” his face shrivels up as the words spill off his tongue, his eyebrows bunching together and lips curling downward, “I should have just  _ left!  _ I fucking should have broken the TV! AUGH — something.”

Craig swallows. 

He wonders if the fear he has now is similar to the fear Tweek feels all the time.

He is grabbing at his hair and Craig gently pulls his hand away, but he doesn’t let it go, instead he links their fingers together like he has a million times prior — but in this moment, in this one instance, it’s more for himself than Tweek. 

He is so fucking scared.

“I’m really scared, Tweek,” he whispers, the air thick and the words coming out scratchy and raspy because of them catching on his throat. 

Tweek twists his eyebrows together and stares at him — searches him like he did earlier that night. Tweek is very perceptive of others emotions, and he probably can see now that it is more than being scared of a movie — it is a deep fear that eats inside of him and makes him hollow.

“What are you scared of?” Tweek ask after a moment.

Craig closes his eyes and focuses on the way Tweek’s hand feels against him. His hands are cold and clammy. His hand is so cold that Craig wonders how Tweek is not literally freezing. He also feels the slight tremor of his hand and wonders if even in sleep, does he shake? He runs his thumb against his index finger and takes in a breath.

“I don’t know.”

Tweek pauses and then Tweek is running his thumb over his own thumb, and it makes his heart race inside him. “ACK — I get like that a lot too. Nngh, it’s awful.”

But he lied. He knows what he is afraid of, he is just too afraid of it to face it.

He cannot say it out loud, but he slides closer to Tweek and wraps his arm around his torso. He puts his head against Tweek’s neck, and nestles himself close to him.

Tweek freezes a moment, his body completely still, even from shaking and Craig begins to think this is a bad idea — it’s fine when Tweek does it but weird if he does, and Tweek is going to think he is some huge faggot and never talk to him again, but then his arms are encasing around him, holding onto him tight, his knuckles surely turning white and some of that fear melts away.

They stay there for longer than Craig could possibly know, not saying anything but just nestled and cozied into each other — holding on and trying to extract fear and anxieties that eat at them both.

The words are there on Craig’s tongue a long time, hanging there against his oxygen that feels is failing him — his lungs heavy and weak. The words hang there until they fall.

Craig pulls away from Tweek all of a sudden, letting his hand fall as well. He lays on his back and stares at the dark ceiling, missing the glow in the dark stars in his own room. He cannot look at Tweek as he says it but he does not think he will be able to sleep if he does not let the words go — the suffocate him, choke him, steal him of his air.

“Tweek, I think I feel the same way about you as Richie did about Eddie.”

And they just hang there in the air — in the heavy and thick air for what seems like a fucking eternity of misery and suffering, before Tweek says something.

“I — Uh — like … you mean …,” is what stammers out of his mouth, and Craig squeezes his eyes shut and imagines him falling down this black hole, out of existence, and this awful feeling that sinks in his chest. “You … Nnngh.”

“Nevermind,” he whispers urgently. “I don’t know why I said that.”

There is a moment of silence.

“Do you …  _ like _ me? Is that what you mean?”

Craig’s heart sinks into his stomach and he squeezes his eyes shut even harder, hoping that black hole will just form in the ground and rip him out of existence. 

“I said nevermind, okay?” His voice falters, cracking. Jesus fucking Christ, of course. Right now — fuck puberty.

There is another long drawn out pause and Craig just hopes he drops it — never brings it up again and forgets he ever said something so stupid and weird. He will probably have to avoid him for weeks after this out of pure humiliation and embarrassment. There is that chance that Tweek did not even pick up on the feelings Richie had for Eddie — it was a little vague, but Tweek is good at perceiving things like that. If Craig, someone who is  _ terrible  _ at reading between the lines can pick that up — so can Tweek.

Tweek is like a literary genius — all the dumb poems they read in class, he analyzes so well, knows exactly what they mean and symbolize. Whenever Craig is upset, Tweek always knows — knows when no one else knows. 

There is no way Tweek does not know what he is talking about. He is just playing dumb because he does not feel the same — does not at all relate. He is just trying to deflect the conversation.

That’s fine, whatever.

Craig just wants to forget it ever happened. He doesn’t even know if he means what he said.

Craig thinks that’s all Tweek has to say — hasn’t said anything in like thirty seconds. He is prepared to shut his lips and not talk again for the rest of the night and possibly next day, but then Tweek is speaking once more.

“Nngh. I think I feel that way too,” he whispers, making Craig’s eyelids shoot up. “I think I like you… like  _ that _ … I think I  _ really  _ like you.”

Craig rolls into his side and looks into Tweek’s solemn gaze, making sure he is not fucking with him, not that he ever would fuck with his emotions like this, but still. He just stares at him and he seems to not really be shaking, his irises seem still.

“Really?” Craig asks, scooting closer to him.

Tweek nods, visibly swallowing. 

Craig can feel his heart pounding wildly in his chest. He doesn’t even know what to do. He doesn’t know what to say. He feels like this moment is not real.

He needs to know it’s real — feel it's real. 

He scoots closer and closer until Tweek’s face is an inch or two apart. He gazes at him a moment, glancing at his lips before leaning in and kissing him, eyes closed and noses brushing against one another.

It’s slow and gentle; his lips soft and wet. He’s kissed a couple girls before, but none of them felt like  _ this  _ — none of them came with butterflies and this warmth that spreads all across his body.

He pulls his lips away and stares at the boy lying next to him, their hands connecting for probably the hundredth time, but it feels  _ different  _ now. 

They just stare at one another, both trying to understand what just happened — let it catch up in their minds. 

He likes him so much — so fucking much that it swells up inside him, making his whole body tingle. “Was that okay?” He asks.

Tweek nods. “It was  _ really,  _ really okay.”

Craig’s lips spread into a small smile and Tweek mirrors him, and Craig thinks his heart might fucking burst under his gaze. 

He still feels scared — terrified, even, but … Tweek likes him the way  _ he  _ likes him and it’s close to probably being the best feeling in the world.

Their feet rub against each other, their legs tangled and hands clasped. He really does not want to let him go.

“I’m sorry I stopped holding your hand during the movie… I was just…,” he struggles, swallowing, “ _ really  _ scared.”

Tweek still has that smile on his lips. “It’s okay…,” he murmurs. “Nnngh, just promise me you won’t do it again.”

Craig grins, his dimples showing. “I promise.” He squeezes his hand.

Craig is scared,  _ very  _ scared of what all this means, but with Tweek beside him, he knows it will all be okay.   
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> hope u liked it!!! let me know if you did <3


End file.
